Expanded History

1938 - Company Founded
The Probar Company was founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The only place the name Borroughs was seen was on the door of the president, Walter L. Borroughs. He started in business as a contract fabricator, making saw cabinets for the Atlas Press Company. The first products were an Atlas 10" Saw Cabinet and a Sears Saw Cabinet, also made for Atlas. The name was changed to Borroughs in 1939.

1941 - Automotive Merchandisers
Throughout 1941, Borroughs continued to expand the contract fabrication of automotive merchandising items, such as the Hinkley-Meyers air cleaner cabinet and brake drum lathe cabinet. New items for Atlas were added, along with the General Motors Service Desk and Parts Merchandisers, the Barrett Brake Dokter Box, and similar items for Aeromotive, Firestone, and American Scale Co.

1942 to 1945 - War Effort
Borroughs became part of the war effort as a sub-contractor to companies such as Reo, Fruehauf, Continental Motors, Ingersoll and Graham-Paige. Items such as water baffles for amphibious landing craft, land tank components, gun turret components, air scoops for aircraft, and many others were on the list.

Toward the end of the war, work was done on the development of the automotive bin. Within weeks after the end of the war, the first production bins were completed.

The first bin customer was Oldsmobile, which continued to do much of the early bin business with Borroughs.

1946 - New Automotive Products
Success with the bin sales led to introduction of other auto service items, such as shop desks, automotive service benches & cabinets. Contract work continued to expand with new customers such as Standard Motors, Emrich and Kalamazoo Coach.

With encouragement from Oldsmobile, Borroughs Tool and Equipment Company was organized as a "company within a company." Occupying space in the Borroughs plant, they manufactured specialized automotive servicing tools.

The significant event at Borroughs in 1947 was the construction and occupation of the new plant on North Burdick Street. Covering over 40,000 square feet, this new factory represented tremendous growth for the company. The building permit issued indicated an expected cost of $150,000.

1951 - Pallet Racks
Borroughs began pallet racks, similar in design to those which used to be manufactured by American Metal Products in Detroit. Also in 1951, Borroughs installed a high-production line that turned out headlamp rings for Ford.

1952 - Office Furniture
In March of 1952, Borroughs marketed its initial products in the Office Furniture line. They were open-faced and sliding door storage cabinets, and the line of library shelving.

These were an outgrowth of the successful bin design and were met with great approval by office furniture dealers across the country.

1954 - Industrial Shelving
The major development among many new products in 1954 was the introduction of a really new, "clip-type" shelving, which rapidly made Borroughs a major producer in the highly competitive industry.

During the early 50's contract sales became less and less a factor as Borroughs gained stature as a manufacturer of name products nationwide.

The growth of the American Metal Products Company accelerated in the mid-fifties with a constant stream of new products and enlarged facilities to accommodate production and warehousing needs.

1957 - Shop Equipment
Two major product introductions were made in the Industrial line - lightweight shelving called "Budget Rack", and a new shop equipment line included work benches and accessories, tool stands, utility carts and shop desks. A conversion feature, allowing customers to add glass or steel doors to an open unit at any time, modified the storage cabinet design.

A 10,000 square foot warehouse was added to the north end of the plant, bringing the total facility area to 60,500 square feet.

1974 - 100,000 Square feet Warehouse
Full production began on the welded bookcase and the steel display table. A redesign program on adaptafile with changes in effect before the end of the fiscal year, was undertaken.

Construction of a 100,000 square foot warehouse and the two story office addition began this year.

1977 - Mobile File
Office Furniture product line developed and introduced the Mobile File. This file-cabinet-on-wheels was an instant hit in the market, and rounded out the product line.

1980 - Work Bench Line
1980 was another big year in product development, adding significantly to market offerings. Shop equipment received substantial attention with the introduction of the completely redesigned Work Bench line. A new concept, the Shop Desk and Tier Drawer, was released.

1985 - 90,000 square foot addition
A very significant year. New checkstand products to handle not only high end bagger assist type store, but also stores concerned with shrink, customer service and so on. New products also brought growth and with it our biggest expansion ever. Ninety Thousand square feet of new building along with a new high-rise retrieval systems, totally new paint system and much more. This was a multi-million dollar expansion and gives Borroughs room to grow.

1991 - Local Ownership takes place
New owners took charge finally in October 1991. This group consisted of Borroughs' management, and the Tyler family. A local Kalamazoo bank supported the sale. The Tylers had a long relationship with Borroughs as an Industrial Distributor. With their help, a new era began for Borroughs as an independent business. The new owners wasted no time. They quickly bolstered profitability and began changing the company.

1992 - Rivet-Span; 1,000 Checkstands to Wal-Mart
Additional success in 1992 came primarily from a contract to supply over 1,000 Retail Checkstands to Wal-Mart. This led to a series of contracts for custom, steel check out lanes that grew this business 50% in one year.

Rivet-Span® was introduced in October 1992. Rivet-Span is a shelf formed product for archival and general purpose storage use. It added a badly needed new product to the Industrial group. Borroughs also partnered with Easy Trak Lateral Mobile systems at this time.

1993 - Record Master
A new idea in 1993 sent Record Master sales soaring. Borroughs took this product to the contract office dealer market and found a new niche for its filing solutions.

2005 - ISO 9001: 2000 Registration Granted to Borroughs Corporation
On April 18, 2005, Borroughs Corporation was awarded a Certificate of Registration, by Intetek Automotive Systems Certification, as an ISO 9001:2000 registered company. This is a significant accomplishment and is much more than a one-time achievement. It demonstrates our continuing commitment to quality in all we do.